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Seth Mandel at Commentary on the trial of Kermit Gosnell Yesterday, USA Today columnist Kirsten Powers asked why the multiple-murder trial of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell had not gotten more prominent coverage among news outlets. Seth Mandel offers one perspective: "There is no area of American politics in which the press is more activist ... than social issues, the so-called culture wars. And the culture of permissive abortion they favor has consequences, which they would rather not look squarely at." Mandel cites prior research on eugenics and sex-selective abortion, by authors who warned against leveraging their findings to narrow access to abortion. "The downside to uncovering what many believe to be a shocking trend in human rights offenses [is that] people will want to do something about it." Powers's column also spurred a call for more socially conservative Christians to enter the mainstream media. Matt K. Lewis at The Week noted, "Powers' faith no doubt informs her journalism, probably making it more likely that she will cover stories about abortion and human trafficking that some of her colleagues might not be as likely to explore." (Earlier this week Last year, Walter Russell Mead at The American Interest declared that "people who aren’t well informed about religion aren’t competent to report much of the news in this world.") But Anna Williams, writing for the religious magazine First Things, discourages anti-abortion activists from grousing. "The solution for pro-life activists is not merely to complain about lack of coverage... the solution is to get a job (or encourage your kids or your students to get a job) inside the mainstream media."
Alex Seitz-Wald at Salon on Progress Kentucky and Mitch McConnell The bizarre scandal involving the recording of a meeting of Mitch McConnell's campaign consultants by a leader of the Progress Kentucky Super PAC highlights just how incompetent the effort to unseat McConnell has been, writes Alex Seitz-Wald, who reports on his prior experience with the small Super PAC. "No one took its members very seriously in Kentucky, even before the slurs or the secret tape. I know this because I once quoted Curtis Morrison, who was one of what appears to be only two or three people associated with the group (he resigned in March), and a number of liberal activists in the state told me to never do it again." The group's finances were even worse: "Last election cycle, in which $6 billion was spent by candidates and outside groups, Progress Kentucky raised $1,005. Thousand. They spent $18. Yes, you read that right." Evan McMorris-Santoro and Ruby Cramer at BuzzFeed agree: "It's probably possible for a political group to be worse at accomplishing its core mission than Progress Kentucky is, but it's difficult to imagine how." Perhaps out of necessity, Peter Weber at The Week shot down the notion that Progress Kentucky functioned as an amateur ploy to prop up McConnell's re-election chances. "Unfortunately for Democrats, Progress Kentucky is probably closer to the Three Stooges than a stooge for McConnell," Weber wrote.